USFL memories

As we close in on the end of the 2021 NFL season, with Super Bowl 56 scheduled for February 13th, I'm taking a moment to mention that another pro football league is starting up in April. The USFL kicks off on April 16th, with a game that will be simulcast on Fox and NBC.

The Saturday night, primetime game between the New Jersey Generals and Birmingham Stallions will be played at Protective Stadium in Birmingham starting at 7:30pm ET. NBC Sports will produce pregame, halftime and postgame shows; Fox Sports will handle the game coverage. The same commercials will run across both networks. Fox and NBC each have multiyear deals with the USFL, with NBC carrying 22 games this year (nine on NBC, nine on USA, four on Peacock) and Fox also carrying 22 (14 on Fox, eight on FS1).

This isn't the same USFL that operated in the 1980s, although the logo is very similar and many of the team names are the same. This USFL is playing all of its games in Birmingham, AL with some games at Protective Stadium and some games at Legion Field. Well, at least during the 2022 season.

I am interested in the new league. However, I wonder how much it is because of the original USFL. I was very interested in that league, and there's a story behind that. I did attend some USFL games in Jacksonville, after the Bulls joined the league. One game I attended featured two Heisman Trophy winners. The New Jersey Generals, with Herschel Walker in the backfield, beat the Bulls, with Mike Rozier at running back, when Bulls kicker Danny Miller's 41-yard field goal was called no good.

The field goal attempt looked good to me. It looked good to the other 73,226 people there. It looked good to the ABC announcers on TV. It even looked good to the official under the left upright. But it looked wide to the official under the right upright, and it was his call to make. So, since there was no instant replay under the rules, the Bulls lost the game.

Can you tell it meant something to me? It did. I enjoyed watching Herschel Walker play, after having seen him play at Georgia in college. Of course, he was on the visiting team, and I was cheering for the home team. Still, I enjoyed watching the Bulls play. I was disappointed when the USFL ceased operations.

This new league simply has a lot of the same names, nothing more. But, I'll give it a shot. I can watch Fox and NBC with an antenna, FS1 and USA with Sling TV Blue, and Peacock because I have a subscription (actually, it's included with Xfinity Internet service). If I like what I see, it may be a part of my Streaming Life for three months this spring and summer.

Am I really a fan of TV?

I saw a video the other day that mentioned a TV show that is considered by some to be one of the best shows ever. And I thought to myself, I thought, "Self, you know I've never seen an episode of that. Huh."

That was pretty much my reaction at the time, but it got me to thinking. How many classic TV shows have you never watched? Or maybe did watch but didn't like? So, I was curious. So I did some research. So I found out there were several shows that I've never watched, and others that I had seen but didn't care to watch.

Then I thought to myself, I thought, "Self, does this mean I'm not really a fan of TV?" Then I decided to start typing and see if I could come to an answer. This is me typing.

How do I pick the list of any so-called "top TV shows of all time?" Well, there are many ways this can be determined. TV Guide is a pretty good guide to this. A few years ago, they did an article called TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time. Here are some of the shows listed that I never watched.

No. 1: The Sopranos. I've never seen an episode. It was on HBO, and I didn't subscribe to HBO.

No. 2: Seinfeld. I've never seen an episode. I know it aired on NBC. Or ABC. Let me check. NBC. I don't even know what night it aired. Let me check. Wednesday or Thursday, from the looks of it. I don't know why I never watched it. Maybe I watched something on the other networks. Let's see. Oh, that's a lot of years. So we have Jake and the Fatman? No, that wasn't it. Home Improvement? Okay, that makes sense. In Living Color? Okay. Chicago Hope? Nope. The Commish? No. Rescue 911? No. Murder One? Diagnosis Murder? No and no. So, sometimes I watched other stuff and sometimes I watched nothing.

No. 6: The Wire. I've heard it's good, but again, never saw an episode. Probably because it was on HBO, and I didn't pay for HBO.

No. 18: Saturday Night Live. I watched in the early years, but haven't watched it since Norm Macdonald was fired. Well, I watched when he hosted it a year or so after being fired. But SNL has really not been something I cared to watch in the last couple of decades.

No. 19: Oprah Winfrey.

No. 21: Mad Men. Another NBC show? No, this was AMC. I had cable when it started, but never watched it for some reason. I've heard it's good.

No. 26: The Cosby Show. I saw a few episodes, and liked what I saw, but work or something often interfered, so I never watched it that much.

No. 28: Friends. Another NBC show? Yes, but again, never watched a single episode. I've heard it was good, but I never really had an interest in it.

No. 29: ER. Never watched it. I had to look up which network it was on. Medical dramas never really appealed to me. Well, except St. Elsewhere, which is No. 51 on the TV Guide list.

No. 30: Sesame Street. I was too old to watch it when it debuted. I'm not sure why my children and I never watched it, other than it aired during the day and I worked. Thinking about it, I did manage to watch a few episodes, but this was more of a work interference rather than a lack of interest.

I'll stop at the top 30. And of those, I've never seen a single episode of seven of them, and three more that I rarely ever watched.

So, does this mean I'm not a fan of TV? Not at all. It just means that I don't watch everything. Of the top 30, I regularly watched two out of three shows. And as it was once said, two out of three ain't bad. So yeah, I'm a fan of TV. Maybe not the same TV you like, but I wonder if you regularly watched 2/3 of the top 30 shows. Check out the list and see.

Of course, it really doesn't matter, does it? TV offers a lot of content that appeals to a lot of different people. The important thing is that you be able to watch the shows you want. I stream. You do too. Well, probably, since you're on a streaming tips and opinion Website. I like having the ability to watch the shows I want to watch, whether current shows, or classic shows that I want to watch again. Streaming lets me do that. And I really like having classic TV shows in my Streaming Life.

New Roku Channel channels

The Roku Channel is Roku's free streaming service containing ad-supported live and on-demand content, as well as premium (subscription) content. It has a lot of stuff.

Keep in mind, we're talking about The Roku Channel, not the Roku platform itself. Having the Roku Channel is NOT the same as having a Roku device. If you don't understand the difference between Roku and The Roku Channel, just understand that there is a difference.

The Roku Channel, Roku's free live streaming service, has recently added some live streaming channels to the Live TV lineup. You can tell what most of them are just by the names of the channels.

• Movie Favorites by Lifetime (386) Exactly what it says. Movies from Lifetime network. Not the same as Lifetime Movie Network, but similar. And free.
• Vevo 2K (1181) The 2K part means music videos from the 2000s, not the streaming resolution.
• Vevo '80s (1187) Music videos from the 1980s.
• Vevo Reggaeton & Trap (1148) Music videos from those similar styles of music.
• Classic Doctor Who (757) Episodes from 1963-1989, featuring the First through Seventh Doctors.
• Antiques Roadshow UK (463) A live stream of content from the British TV series.
• BBC Food (446) Not the old BBC channel that was replaced by BBC Lifestyle, but a streaming only service of BBC content focusing on food. So similar, but not exactly the same.
• iHeart80s (1188) Note that these songs are audio not video.
• The Country Network (1176) Music videos.
• LiveNOW from Fox (120) Raw feeds of live events and breaking news by Fox News.

If you're looking for live streaming content, The Roku Channel continues to offer more and more selections. Not everything is for everybody, but it's likely you'll find something on The Roku Channel for you. If not from these newly added channels, them from the hundreds already on the service. It would be a good addition to your Streaming Life.

Peacock TV is losing lots of money, as expected

Comcast lost a lot of money on Peacock TV last year. According to Variety, the streaming service lost over $1-billion in 2021, qnd is expected to lose even more in 2022.

Comcast, in reporting Q4 earnings Thursday, revealed that Peacock generated $778 million in revenue for the full-year 2021, with an adjusted loss of $1.7 billion. That’s compared with $118 million of revenue and an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) loss of $663 million in 2020.

For 2022, Comcast expects Peacock losses to total about $2.5 billion as its investment in content doubles, CFO Mike Cavanagh said on the earnings call.

So, why is this a good thing? I mean, losing billions of dollars doesn't sound good, does it? But, launching a large streaming service is expensive, and Comcast thinks that in the long run, they can withstand these losses and end up making money overall. They're looking at it as a long-term investment.

In fact, for the 4th quarter of 2021, Comcast performed better than expected.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 5.48%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this cable provider would post earnings of $0.75 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.87, delivering a surprise of 16%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.

So, it looks like Comcast won't be cutting their losses. They expected them, and overall, business is better than expected.

What does this mean for the streamer? It means that Peacock TV will be hanging around for a while yet. It won't be going the way of PlayStation Vue, at least nor for a few years. And, if the better than expected performance continues, Peacock TV subscribers can expect to have that as a part of their Streaming Life for some time to come.

A good look at HBO Max

After a couple of earlier musings on HBO Max, and an abbreviated test run, I finally was able to spend some time actually using the service. I like it. I won't keep it, but I like it.

First, I'll tell you why I like it, then I'll tell you why I won't keep it.

Why do I like HBO Max? Quite simply, it has good content. That's really the only reason to subscribe to any service, and HBO Max is definitely one to consider. While not all of the movies are my taste -- I'm not in the target audience for most theatrical releases -- the service has a lot of hit movies available. And TV shows. Don't forget the HBO shows.

There are Academy Award winning films from the early years (Grand Hotel, The Great Ziegfeld, Casablanca) to 21st century Best Picture winners (Argo, No Country for Old Men). There are plenty of movies from the history of cinema, from the 1902 Georges Méliès classic Le Voyage dans la Lune/A Trip to the Moon to this week's theatrical release The Fallout.

HBO Max has popular and award winning TV series such as South Park, Sesame Street, Westworld, Game of Thrones. and Lovecraft Country, among many many others.

A feature of HBO Max I really like is the Hubs. There are hubs for HBO content, HBO Max original content, DC comics content, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), [adult swim], Cartoon Network, Sesame Street, and Looney Tunes. Some of those really appeal to me, and being able to find them in one place is a nice feature.

What I don't like about HBO Max is the fact that I can't turn auto-play off. When an episode of a TV show is done, I may not want to watch the next episode. I may not even want it to start playing. I want auto-play to be off. To be fair, on some devices, it can be turned off.

Autoplay can be turned off on Cox devices, LG TV, VIZIO TV, XClass TV, Samsung TV, and Xfinity devices. 

Other devices: Autoplay can't be turned off. If you don't want to watch the next episode, pause or stop playback before the next episode begins. Stay tuned as we add this functionality to more devices.

I'll be happier when they roll it out to devices that I use.

If you were to decide to have only a single streaming service, HBO Max is a great choice. Could it replace Netflix? Sure. Keep in mind that most of the content on HBO Max can only be seen on HBO Max. You won't find the content on Netflix, or at least, not for long. It's owned by Warner Media, and the Warner Bros. catalog of movies and TV is huge. They'll be keeping their content in-house for the most part, and you'll only be able to see the content on HBO Max. So yes, it certainly can replace Netflix, if you so choose.

And that gets me to why I won't be keeping the service. Oh, it's a good service. It's a great service. But, no service has everything. Yes, you can get everything, but you have to subscribe to everything to get it. Here's the secret: you can, and you can affordably.

If you're a Netflix subscriber, you can drop your subscription any time you like. You can replace it with HBO Max. And, when you want to go back to Netlfix after a month or more, you can. Drop HBO Max and resubscribe to Netflix. Or a different service.

Look at it this way. You can subscribe to Netflix for two months, and it will cost you $31. You can subscribe to HBO Max for two months, and it will cost you $30. That's $61 for two months. Or, you can subscribe to Netflix for one month, then HBO Max the next, and that's $30.50. Half the cost for two months. Watch one service one month and the other service another month. Over the two months, you have plenty to watch, the same amount of content actually, over the 60 days. You get one service at a time, and pay for once service at a time. You can watch the same content during those 60 days for half the cost.

So, I'm not going to keep HBO Max when the subscription ends. Not because I don't like it, but because I'm going to use another service for a month. I've done Netflix recently, and now HBO Max, but I'm not sure what next month will bring. I'll use something, though. I don't like the idea of subscribing to multiple services at the same time, because I can't watch them all to make it worthwhile. But, I can watch one this month and another next month, and so on. That would be cost effective. And entertaining. I'll have HBO Max back in my Streaming Life again.